Reality Check: 2009: Stephen Harper’s Year on the Run

“I look forward to working with all of the parties and all of the members of parliament to build consensus and move this country forward." -- Stephen Harper, Election Night Speech, 23 January 2006

It’s been four long years since Stephen Harper said those words.

Now amid media reports suggesting that Harper intends to dissolve the House of Commons to avoid accountability for the second time in 12 months, no year has seen as little evidence of the Conservatives working with other parties and building consensus than 2009.

A look back at the last 12 months of the Harper Conservatives delaying, dividing and running from the House of Commons:

December 2008: Harper appeals to the Governor General to prorogue Parliament to avoid a non-confidence motion on his failure to address the economic crisis.

February 2009: The Information Commissioner of Canada gives the Harper government "Red Alert" failing F grades for compliance with the Access to Information Act.

March 2009: Conservative MPs use stall tactics in a House committee to prevent an investigation into the listeriosis crisis that killed 20 people in 2008.

April 2009: Ignored a New Democrat motion passed in the House to enact consumer protection provisions for credit cards.

June 2009: Conservatives ignore a unanimous vote on New Democrat motion calling on the bonuses paid to Canada Pension Plan investment executives to be halted.

August 2009: Four Conservative Party officials refuse summons to appear before Ethics Committee hearings into the Conservatives’ “in and out” scandal.

September 2009: Former Harper advisor Tom Flannigan confirms Harper’s communications strategy is based on the premise that “It doesn't have to be true. It just has to be plausible.” (Globe and Mail, 9 Sept 2009)

October 2009: In response to the Parliamentary Budget officer’s request to study the effect of stimulus measures, Harper buries the PBO in 4,476 pages of paper reports.

November 2009: Harper skips questioning in the House on Richard Colvin’s allegations of torture for a photo op with Canada’s lacrosse team.

December 2009: Conservative MPs refuse to attend hearings of the House of Commons committee investigating alleged abuse of detainees in Afghanistan.